Right Here Waiting
by TessaStarDean
Summary: Day 5 flashback, the rest takes place in Day 6. JackChloe. Curtis lives. Prompt was Wait.


_Jack found her in a deserted corridor, leaning back against the wall. A few stray tears fell across her cheeks, causing him to curse himself for his carelessness. He had been so focused on chasing down Henderson and making people pay for the friends he had lost, that he had forgotten about the one friend he had left. Watching her now, he realized that he was dangerously close to losing her as well. Quietly, he approached her._

_Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when Jack reached out to wipe away her tears. She stared at him in disbelief as his fingers lingered on her skin._

_"I'm so sorry," he whispered._

_She shook her head, angry with herself for getting so emotional._

_"You were right," she muttered. "You asked me to keep the recording safe and I didn't. It's my fault."_

_"No, Chloe," he said sadly._

_Then he pulled her close to him and held her tightly. She immediately relaxed into his arms, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Running his fingers through her long blonde hair, he whispered soothingly to her._

_"Shhh…Chloe, it's alright. It wasn't your fault. I'm so sorry I yelled at you. Please, Chloe, I can't lose you too."_

_Pulling back slightly, she leaned her forehead against his. _

_"You're not going to lose me, Jack. I'm not going anywhere."_

_"Thank God for that," he smiled. "Without you I'd be completely lost."_

_They stared at each other for a long moment, Jack rubbing his thumb along Chloe's cheek. Then he took a deep breath and leaned in, brushing his lips against hers. Chloe responded immediately, pushing herself closer to him, pulling him closer to her. One of Jack's hands tangled in her hair, while his other arm snaked around her waist, holding her tight. Hesitantly, Chloe ran her tongue along his bottom lip, asking for entrance. Jack opened his mouth without hesitation, drinking her in and drowning in the taste of her._

_Eventually, they had to pull back out of a need for breath, but Jack refused to her go, leaning his forehead against hers again._

_"I have to go," he murmured._

_She nodded, once again trying to pull away. But he continued to hold her fast._

_"When this is over," he said. "I'll come back."_

_"You don't have to," she assured him._

_He smiled at her, smoothing her hair._

_"I want to."_

_He kissed her again, hard and fast this time, pushing her back against the wall. Then he was moving away, leaving her struggling to catch her breath._

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Jack kept replaying the scene over and over again in his head as the convoy headed back to CTU. Thoughts of Chloe and Kim were the only things that had kept him sane in China, and his heart lifted at the idea of seeing Chloe in a few short minutes. He missed her more than he thought possible, his arms aching to just pull her to him and never let go.

"Thanks for saving me, mate," Morris said suddenly. "Chloe will be eternally grateful for it."

Pulling himself out of his daydreams, Jack narrowed his eyes at the man sitting across from him in the van. He was still angry at Morris for giving in to the terrorists, for giving them exactly what they wanted. He knew from personal experience what torture could do to a man, but that only made him more unforgiving toward Morris.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Well, I imagine that she'll be happy that her boyfriend wasn't killed by terrorists."

"Boyfriend?" Jack asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Got back together about a year ago. Working _much_ better this time around. I was even planning on proposing after work."

"Proposing?" he whispered.

Morris nodded. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that to her, of course. I want it to be a surprise."

Jack could barely even nod.

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"Good work, Jack," Bill said as the former agent walked over to him.

"Thanks," he replied, obviously lost in his thoughts.

Bill frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Jack seemed to shake himself out of his dark reverie.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired."

"Understandable." Bill's eyes moved across the floor and landed on Chloe standing awkwardly at her station, watching them. "I think there's someone waiting to see you," he told Jack with a smile, nodding in her direction.

Jack turned to look, catching Chloe's eye. Her face lit up in a smile instantly. But Jack's stare became hard and his eyes cold as he just stared at her. Suddenly unsure, Chloe's smile faded as tears threatened to overwhelm her. Jack turned back to Bill.

"I don't want to see her," he spat out, turning on his heel and walking off in the opposite direction from her.

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"Curtis?"

He turned around to see Bill walking over to him.

"What's up?"

"Did something…happen between Jack and Chloe?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he just gave her the most hate-filled look I've ever seen and refuses to talk to her."

Curtis frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. Last time I talked to him, he was excited to see her. Couldn't wait."

"Well then what the hell happened between then and now?"

"Sir? I think I might know."

Both Curtis and Bill turned at the voice, seeing one of the younger field agents standing beside them.

"What are you talking about, Green?" Curtis asked.

"While we were coming back with Morris O'Brian, he and Agent Bauer had a discussion about Chloe."

"And?"

"Morris told Bauer that he and Chloe had gotten back together twelve months ago. That he was planning on proposing to her."

Curtis' jaw clenched and his face turned to stone.

"Did he say anything else?"

Green shook his head. "No, sir. But Bauer didn't look like he was taking the news too well."

"I'll go talk to Jack," Manning said.

"Good," Bill nodded. "And Agent Green? I'd like to send Morris O'Brian up to my office please."

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Jack was walking down one of the corridors in CTU when Curtis came up from behind him, grabbing his elbow and steering him into the nearest holding room.

"What the hell –"

"We need to talk," Curtis said as he shut the door behind them.

"About what?"

"Chloe."

Jack's face immediately hardened.

"No. Just mind your own damn business, Curtis and –"

"Morris is full of shit."

Jack stopped then, staring at his friend.

"What?"

"One of the other field agents just told me what Morris said to you on the ride back here. And I'm telling you that Morris is full of shit. He and Chloe are not back together. He's been trying since the day you were taken, but she won't even give him the time of day."

Curtis watched as his friend took in the information. His eyes widened and he swayed a little bit, planting his hand on the table to keep himself upright. Gentling his voice, Curtis walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"How could you possibly think that Chloe would betray you? She has spent every day of the past eighteen months looking for you. She loves you. She's been waiting for you."

He could see the tears building in Jack's eyes as his friend moved toward the door.

"I have to go find her," he whispered.

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He found her in the same hallway where they had kissed eighteen months ago. But this time she was sitting on the floor, her knees tucked into her chest, and her shoulders shaking with the force of her cries. The sight broke his heart. Knowing that once again his carelessness had hurt her sent a shot of pain directly into his chest. For a moment he considered that she would be better of without him, but then quickly dismissed the idea. That would only cause her more pain – and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Moving quickly, he walked over and sat down next to her. She lifted her eyes to his, and her pain took his breath away. Unable to think of what to say, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, rocking her back and forth and running his fingers through her hair.

"I am so sorry," he finally choked out.

Instead of answering him, Chloe tried to squirm out of his grasp. But Jack held her tightly, using one hand to lift her chin and force her to look at him.

"Please, Chloe," he begged. "Let me get this out. And then if you still want to leave, you can."

Seeing the desperation in his eyes, Chloe stilled her movements.

"I thought…" He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "I thought you had gotten back together with Morris," he explained. "And it just hurt so much, Chloe. I couldn't breathe. And…a part of me wanted to hurt you back."

"Why?" she asked, her face still wet with tears. "Why would you think that?"

"Because that's what Morris told me. He said that you two got back together a year ago, that he was thinking of proposing –"

Chloe's eyes hardened and she struggled once again to free herself from Jack's grasp.

"I'm going to kill him," she growled.

Jack maintained his grip, however, forcing her to stay where she was. When she realized that he wasn't going to let her up, she sighed, looking into his eyes.

"How could you believe him Jack? How could you believe that I would do that to you?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "God, Chloe. I wanted to get back here and see you so badly. And then to hear that you were with…_him_. I couldn't…everything stopped. I couldn't think anything past how much I hurt. I was gone for so long…I couldn't expect you to wait for me."

She took his face in her hands, leaning her forehead against his.

"I've been waiting for you for such a long time, Jack, that sometimes I don't think I know how to do anything else."

And then she was kissing him. Her lips moved against his confidently, and Jack immediately responded, pulling her body closer and tilting his head to deepen the kiss. They sat there, sinking into one another, forgetting that the rest of the world existed. Their bodies molded together as they moved, Jack's fingers tangling in her hair as her hands moved down to his shirt, fisting in his collar.

When they broke apart, Chloe leaned her head on his chest, snuggling up against him. Jack smiled and just held her tighter.

"Come home with me," she whispered.

He sighed in relief, kissing the top of her head.

"You have no idea how much I was hoping you'd say that."

Chloe picked her head back up and stared at him before kissing both his cheeks and then his forehead.

"I think I do," she murmured.


End file.
